Names already popping as possible Janet Napolitano replacements

TSA chief John Pistole, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and a host of names from the Hill are popping up in the initial round of possible replacements for outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

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White House on Napolitano's exit

A spokesman for Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) strongly denied his boss has any interest in the job. Former Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) didn’t slam the door but conceded it would be “awkward” to return to Washington after just taking a job at a New York law firm.

“The timing is not right,” said Lieberman, who has known Napolitano since she was Arizona’s attorney general — and who received a heads-up call from her Friday morning. “I’m not thinking about this at all because we’ve just made a transition from Washington. We moved north. I just joined a law firm. So I have no reason to believe that I would be asked.”

Plus, the former Democrat-turned-Independent was a frequent critic of the Obama administration after he endorsed his good friend, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), in the 2008 presidential election.

Meanwhile, some transportation watchers suggested that giving Pistole the secretary’s job could be a reward for his patience after he took most of the congressional slings and arrows over TSA’s dealings with air travelers.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) put out a statement pushing Kelly, and saying he had called White House chief of staff Denis McDonough to recommend the commissioner for the job. New York’s “loss,” Schumer said, would be the “nation’s gain.”

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) also recommended Kelly, saying his mix of military, law enforcement and counterterrorism experience would make him a good pick, as would his “ab[ility] to fight bureaucratic battles.”

Another potential candidate is Thad Allen, who retired from his post as commandant of the Coast Guard in 2010. He helped lead the responses to both Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Hill names in the rumor mill include House Homeland Security ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). He got an endorsement from Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), a member of the panel, although Thompson has blasted TSA in recent years over concerns about racial profiling, a lack of minority contracts and privacy-invading body-scanner machines.

Thompson “would bring diversity to that position, who has incredible, really in-depth knowledge. He understands the ports system, where we’re seeing some of our biggest threats,” Sanchez told POLITICO.

“He was tough on George Bush, as he was on [President Barack] Obama. But I think that’s important — we are after all the check and balance on the administration,” she added. “Maybe President Obama will want a ‘yes’ man. Certainly Bennie Thompson would not be considered that.”